Cyril Abiteboul understands why Mercedes has imposed ’team orders’ at the tail end of the 2018 world championship.
Some think that, given Lewis Hamilton’s lead over Sebastian Vettel, the Mercedes driver does not need the ’number 2’ backing of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
But Abiteboul, the boss at Renault, understands Toto Wolff’s call.
"When you look at the economic structure of the Concorde Agreements, there is a huge advantage to winning a constructors’ title," he told France’s Auto Hebdo.
"At the same time, everyone only remembers the name of the winning driver world champion, so the question is how to reconcile those two factors," Abiteboul added.
"I think it’s better to take on full transparency regarding the rules of the team and I think how Mercedes manages the situation seems to be the most appropriate to me," he said.
If Hamilton wins in Austin next weekend and Ferrari’s Vettel is not at least second, the Mercedes driver will secure his fifth world championship.